Small victories? Democrats appear to win control of the Wisconsin state senate from Republicans in recall, GOP loser demands a recount

Republican state Sen. Van Wanggaard requested a recount Friday in his Wisconsin recall race, after the final canvassed results showed him losing in last week’s election to former Democratic state Sen. John Lehman, in a rematch of their 2010 race.

Lehman leads by 834 votes out of nearly 72,000 cast in the Racine-based district, a margin of 1.2 percent. The apparent win gives Democrats a new 17-16 majority in the state Senate — a symbolic silver lining for the party after its failure to unseat Gov. Scott Walker the same night.

The legislature is out of regular session for the year. Half of the chamber is up for reelection this November, when Democrats will have to play defense on a new map drawn by Republican lawmakers.